


all i want to understand is you

by burnthesocks



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Ficlet, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, Kissing, Light Angst, M/M, Markus is bad at feelings, Misunderstandings, Simon (Detroit: Become Human) Has Anxiety, hell they both are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-14
Updated: 2020-08-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:33:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25890658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burnthesocks/pseuds/burnthesocks
Summary: Markus is acting differently. Simon gets worried.
Relationships: Markus/Simon (Detroit: Become Human)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	all i want to understand is you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SpicyAllister](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyAllister/gifts).



> dedicated to a dumbass old man  
> prompt was "resolving a misunderstanding", title from the song "change your mind" by castlebeat

Simon hadn’t gone into stasis in two weeks now, and it was starting to affect his daily functioning. He couldn’t help it, though. It was something he had always hated about his deviancy, something that didn’t feel quite as free. It was the way he’d take a thought and sink into it, leaning against the wall on his cot; before he’d removed it, his LED would pulse a burning red in these moments. Since then, though, it’d hardly be noticeable to any outsider that the inside of Simon’s mind palace was a battlefield of sorts, comparable to the revolution they had led just a couple of weeks ago. 

Simon’s current problem revolved around Markus. Or, more specifically, it was the way that his android companion had been acting as of late. Simon never liked to assume things, but it was hard not to when Markus seemed to be avoiding him; he’d always sneak off to talk with North or Josh, and Simon had always been specifically sensitive to exclusion.

So it was only natural that Simon would be on his cot repeating his nightly ritual of panicking and wondering what exactly it was that he did wrong. He replayed the past two weeks in his mind, and Markus’ behavior only got stranger and eventually evolved to what it had been today. Markus had spoken a total of three words to him the entire day.

“Good morning, Simon,” Markus had said with a small upturn of his lips, and it sounded strained. Simon gave a wave and a smile, and if he’d known that Markus wouldn’t speak to him again that day, he would have tried to start a conversation. Though he wasn’t truly sure if it would be any less painful to have a forced conversation than not to talk at all.

What really threw Simon off, though, was the look in Markus’ multicolored eyes. He replayed the moment again, zooming on Markus’ face- something he did often, he realized. There was this look in his eyes that didn’t match his tone nor his strange behavior; a look that made Simon’s thirium pump constrict with some foreign emotion. He’d resolved to call it love, but he didn’t have anything else go by. He, of course, had never had any sort of relationship, but he also had never felt the way he felt for Markus for anyone else. It got to a dangerous point where Markus’ glances could make his artificial heart stutter with affection, causing several warnings to appear in his HUD. Simon had been so fixated on the look on Markus’ face that morning that he didn’t notice  _ actual _ Markus standing in the doorway until he knocked softly, at which Simon gasped as he was brought back to the present. He sat up, pushing himself up with his arms and blinked at the form in the doorway.

“Markus?” Simon whispered, and he didn’t like how desperate he sounded in doing so. He enhanced his vision and confirmed that it was his friend standing in the doorway. He used the word friend loosely, though. His attraction to Markus was beyond platonic, and the way Markus had been treating him lately was less than friendly. If he could help it, he’d tell Markus to go away. Part of him didn’t even know if he  _ wanted _ to hear what Markus could have to say to him, a petty part of him that was upset about how he was very evidently avoiding him. But he knew he couldn’t avoid Markus if he tried.

“Hey, Si,” Markus mumbled, and Simon peered at him. He seemed… cautious. “Can I come in?”

Simon wanted to tell him no. He really did. But his curiosity got the better of him, as did Markus’ soft tone. So despite himself, he nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“Thanks,” Markus sounded relieved, and Simon scrambled to make room for him on the cot, as he was already walking stiffly over to where Simon had been laying down. The room filled with a tense silence as Simon waited for Markus to say something. Markus wasn’t meeting his eyes, gaze set on his own socks.

“What is it?” Simon asked, trying and failing to not sound harsh. Markus winced.

“Alright, I deserve that,” Markus said, still not meeting Simon’s eyes.

“Yeah, just a little,” Simon said, less bite in his words this time. “Care to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me?”

“I promise I wasn’t trying to avoid you, I just…” Markus trailed off, rolling his lip between his teeth as he visibly struggled to find words. Simon felt annoyance at this.

“Well, what  _ was _ it then, Markus?” Simon spat. “Because that’s sure as hell what it looked like.” Markus sighed, his brows drawn together in frustration. Even in the low lighting, Simon could still make out his freckles dotting his face, and despite his anger, Simon sighed involuntarily. Markus was beautiful, painfully so, and no amount of anger could change that.

“I was… I was hoping if I avoided you, these feelings would go away.” Markus whispered, and Simon tensed. Markus seemed to be picking his words carefully, and Simon realized his expression wasn’t frustrated anymore. He looked… frightened.

“Feelings?” Simon pressed on, trying his damndest not to get his hopes up and ultimately failing if the way his thirium pump fluttered was anything to go by.

“Yes,” Markus said, looking like he wanted to say more. Simon wondered what he was so afraid of because the first time since Simon had known the android, he looked fragile, as though he could shatter at the slightest of touches. Simon couldn’t help the way his face softened. Looking at Markus like this, so vulnerable, he couldn’t stay upset with him.

“What kind of feelings, Markus?” Simon asked quietly, all bitterness in his tone gone. He felt his thirium pump thrumming wildly. So much for not getting his hopes up.

“Feelings that I… shouldn’t have,” Markus muttered, bouncing his leg anxiously. Simon wanted to comfort him, but he had to know first…

“I don’t understand, Markus,” Simon felt as though maybe he did understand, but he didn’t dare to make that assumption. He had to hear the words.

“Can I… show you?” Markus asked, holding up his bare white hand and meeting Simon’s eyes for the first time. Simon nodded slowly and connected their hands in an interface, and he was viewing Markus’ memories. Markus was looking at Simon from across the room, who was sitting on a windowsill and staring out, and Simon felt his thirium pump familiarly, except it was Markus’, and-

Oh.

As more memories with similar feelings flooded into Simon’s mind palace, he could feel Markus’ current nerves, and he decided he’d seen enough to get the idea. He pulled his hand away from the interface and when he opened his eyes, Markus was staring dead into them. Simon could see the fear in his face and he decided it was safe to take action, judging from the preconstructions he’d seen Markus had run in the past.

Simon cautiously brought his hand to hold Markus’ jaw, eyes questioning. Markus gave the slightest of nods, a movement that could hardly even pass as one, but Simon understood nonetheless and brought his lips to Markus’, his other arm wrapping around his neck. Markus’ hands found Simon’s waist and everything was quiet. Simon’s mind palace was no longer a battlefield, but more so a quiet lake, comfortable and safe. When they parted, Markus pressed another kiss to his forehead, and they both shared wide smiles when their eyes met. 

“I love you, Simon,” Markus said in a manner that was almost shy, and his hands seemed to be trembling where they rested at Simon’s waist. Simon felt his heart constrict with what he now knew to call love and for once, he voiced this feeling.

“I love you too,” Simon replied quickly, suddenly breathless despite not needing to breathe. “So much.”

Markus slept with him at night from then on, and he found himself feeling that anxiety less often with Markus pressed into him comfortably. And even when he did feel himself start spiraling, Markus was there for him, and Simon realized that he- no, they were going to be okay.

**Author's Note:**

> kudos & comments are very much appreciated and make my heart warm <3


End file.
